Third baseman Darin Holcomb has climbed back to the list of top prospects in the Rockies’ organization due to his strong play of late for Tulsa in Double-A.

“If he finishes the second half of the season the way he’s playing right now, he could find himself in Triple-A next year,” said Marc Gustafson, the Rockies’ director of player development. “It’s all a matter of how young players handle adversity.”

Triple-A would have been the last thing Holcomb was thinking about earlier this season. A Rockies’ 12th-round selection out of Gonzaga in the 2007 June draft, Holcomb was struggling in his first season of Double-A ball.

“My play in the first half of the season was atrocious,” Holcomb said. “There’s still a lot of room for improvement, but I thought I came around pretty good in the month of July and in the last couple of weeks, especially.”

In a five-game stretch last week, Holcomb had 11 hits, two doubles, two home runs and three RBIs. He’s raised his average to .282.

“He found the swing he had last year,” Tulsa manager Ron Gideon said. “He’s hitting to all fields and throwing up some extra-base hits. His defense also has improved.”

Holcomb was named most valuable player in the South Atlantic League last year while with Class-A Asheville. He hit .318, with 46 doubles, 14 home runs and 102 RBIs. That earned him a promotion past Modesto in the higher Class A California League to Tulsa.

“When I jumped all the way to Tulsa, it gave me a lot of confidence at first,” Holcomb said. “I think, at first, I tried to do too much to justify the jump to Double-A.”

Gideon also noted that Holcomb struggled in the Hawaii League last winter.

“But we knew we had a strong-headed player who wouldn’t give in,” Gideon said.

Footnotes.

Manager Stu Cole continues to mix and match in trying to hold a pitching staff together for a Colorado Springs Sky Sox run to the postseason for the first time since 1997. Veteran Damian Moss has made two starts out of the bullpen. Veteran reliever Mike Timlin has joined the Sky Sox after two appearances in Casper. The Rockies are in a hurry to see if the 43-year-old has anything left. … Reliever Ryan Speier is back on the disabled list with back soreness. … The Sky Sox’s annual Bark in the Park night is Wednesday.

Minor-league spotlight

Samuel Deduno RHP, Tulsa Drillers

The Rockies need to look no further than Tulsa for the organization’s comeback player of the year. Pitcher Samuel Deduno, a 26-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic, is 10-2 with a 2.47 ERA this season with the Double-A affiliate.

He missed all of last season while recovering from “Tommy John” surgery on his pitching elbow.

“He’s making a statement,” Tulsa manager Ron Gideon said. “When you send him out, you know he’s going to give you a chance to win a game.”

“He has exceeded our expectations in terms of the rehabilitation from the surgery,” said Marc Gustafson, Rockies director of player development. “He’s not quite where he needs to be in fastball command. When he’s throwing strikes, he’s very good.”

Deduno has always had the ability to strike out batters. He led the Pioneer Rookie League in strikeouts with 118 in 2004. His 121 strikeouts in 124 innings led the Texas League in 2007. In 2006, his 167 strikeouts were second in the California League.

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